A drinking straw attachment device serves in an automatic beverage bottling plant to attach a drinking straw to a beverage container, e.g. to a filled and sealed foil bag at the end of the bottling process. Such foil bags are, for instance, formed from two rectangular foils sealed together on three edges with a base foil being heat-sealed between the fourth edges of the foil bags. To remove the beverage, a drinking straw is pierced through one of the side foils or through a corresponding insert.
With the aid of a feeder device, the drinking straws in the form of a continuous string are moved guided towards the beverage containers which are transported on a corresponding conveyor belt. In doing so, the drinking straws of such a string are as a rule aligned vertically with respect to the conveyor belt. The individual drinking straws are either connected with a band that is detached or severed prior to being attached, or which are heat-sealed into the protective coverings, the edges of which being connected to form a drinking straw string which is severed on the heat-sealed edges prior to attachment to the beverage containers. The drinking straw is held onto the beverage container for instance by a glue previously applied to the beverage container or by a glue provided on the straw band.
In the latter case, the problem arises that a cutting device for severing the drinking straw band must penetrate through both the drinking straw band as well as through the glue. On the side of the drinking straw turned away from the cutting device, this results in conglutination on the drinking straw band or on a guide element possibly located there. Such conglutination entails malfunctioning in the gluing process and expensive cleaning procedures for the feeder device become frequently necessary.